THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DANCE
PRESENTS TWO WORKS BY PLAYWRIGHT BRUCE NORRIS
THE PAIN AND THE ITCH, April 27 – May 1, 2011
&
CLYBOURNE PARK, May 4 – 7, 2011
IN THE THEATRE LAB – LOCATED IN THE WINSHIP DRAMA BLDG.

ADMISSION IS FREE!

The University of Texas Department of Theatre and Dance presents Bruce Norris’ acclaimed plays The Pain and the Itch and Clybourne Park. Featuring the students of the UT M.F.A. Acting class of 2013, Norris’ biting social satires explore class, race and the complexities of the American psyche.

Bruce Norris is a writer and an actor whose other plays include The Infidel (2000), Purple Heart (2002), We All Went Down to Amsterdam (2003), and The Unmentionables (2006). His work has been produced at Playwrights Horizons, Steppenwolf Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre (Washington, DC), The Royal Court Theater (London), and The Staatstheater Mainz (Germany).

The Pain and the Itch introduces the audience to a privileged, suburban family. But all is not as it appears. As the story unfolds, the audience becomes the voyeurs of the characters imperfect lives. “The play is satirical, sometimes farcical, and ultimately tragic,” explains the play’s director, Lee Abraham, associate professor of acting. “It’s mordantly funny in its attack on the smugness and sense of entitlement of the professional class, but bits and pieces of the action — rooted in betrayal, misunderstanding, and selfishness — gradually assemble themselves into an ending in which the innocent are victims.”

Clybourne Park presents a community in Chicago that is divided over the neighborhood’s changing demographic and gradual gentrification. Norris’ razor-sharp, well-crafted dialogue reveals how far ideas about race have – or haven’t – progressed in 50 years. Norris’ most recent work, Clybourne Park was named one of the “Best Ten Plays of 2010” by The New York Times and by The London Times. Clybourne Park is directed by senior associate chair and associate professor of acting and directing, Lucien Douglas.

CALENDAR LISTING:
The UT Department of Theatre & Dance presents:
The Pain and the Itch: April 27, 28, 29, & 30 at 8 p.m. and May 1 at 2 p.m.
Clybourne Park: May 4, 5, 6, & 7 at 8 p.m. and May 7 at 2 p.m.
Both shows will be performed in the Lab Theatre (LTH), located west of the F. Loren Winship Drama Building (WIN) finearts.utexas.edu/tad/productions/map_and_directions.cfm. All performances are free. Tickets are available at the theatre beginning one hour prior to curtain.

Media Contact:
Gene Bartholomew; 512.471.0632; gbartholomew@texasperformingarts.org
Cassie Gholston; 512.232.5301; gholston@austin.utexas.edu